20 Years Later
by cotronix
Summary: This is Sky High... 20 years into the future! The main character is Zach and Magenta's daughter, Desi Braun! Enjoy and feel free to review .
1. Chapter 1

"Desi Braun, daughter of Zach and Magenta. Huh. Looks like you're up first."

I already hated Boomer.

He's old, grumpy, loud… And he's going to make every freshman get up in front of all the others to show them their powers, no matter how embarrasing. I was actually told by my mom and dad themselves that Sky High put a stop to all of this "hero" or "sidekick" business almost twenty years ago.

But I guess things change.

I sighed as I made my way through the other students from the back of the gym to get to the dreaded platform where Boomer stood. I cracked my knuckles and teleported back to the back of the gym. Well, that wasn't so hard.

"Haha. How'd that happen? Isn't Magenta a rodent and Zach a nightlight?" Boomer asked with a smirk on his smug face.

"No. My mother shapeshifts into a gerbil while my father glows. Brightly. Therefore, I shapeshift into a beam of light to teleport wherever I please."

"Alright, I get it… Hero."

I think it's over. He looked like he was already bored with me, so he moved on to another student that looked somewhat vulnerable.

I was never the social type of person. Well, I tried to be, for a time, but it didn't necessarily work out. I guess I've always been a loner.

He called each of the students' names, one by one, and I must say that I was impressed with some of them. Eventually the bell rang, of course, and everyone made their way out of the gym. As we were leaving… And this may sound very cliché, but…

Love at first sight. Seriously.

He had insanely green eyes, nicely cut brown hair, a muscular body, and…

A girl at his side.

Crap.


	2. Chapter 2

First day of school and I was already sick of it. I sat down at a random empty table for lunch and started eating the gross cafeteria food famously known as "mystery meat." A few seconds into gagging the food out, a boy I recognized as one of the freshmen sat down next to me.

"Are you okay… Uh, Desi?" he asked while looking at my nametag.

"Not with you around; get lost!"

He laughed. I wasn't trying to joke. It wasn't even that funny.

After he stopped laughing (and I stopped gagging) he smiled and said, "Hey, I'm Dylan."

"Okay. Bye Dylan."

I picked up my tray and left. He, of course, followed.

"What is your problem?" I asked with more than a small amount of anger in my words.

"Oh, well, I was just wondering if… you wanted to hang out some time?"

That took me by surprise. Now that I looked at him he seemed kinda cute. He had somewhat shaggy black hair and calm, blue eyes. He was wearing a My Chemical Romance shirt and typical boy jeans. I guess he's not entirely undateable. Besides, being on the shy side, I never went on a date with a boy all through middle school.

"Okay. Where?"

Now it was he who looked surprised. But he also looked ecstatic.

"The Paper Lantern. How about… Are you free tomorrow at 6-ish?"

"Yeah. See you then."

The bell rang and we parted. As I walked into the halls, I tripped on who knows what.

Someone caught me. A really hot someone. The someone that I saw in the gym earlier.

"Oh, sorry!" That was all I could muster as he lifted me to my feet.

"It's okay. I'm Riley."

"Riley… Oh, um, hi. I'm Desi. Nice to meet you!"

"It's very nice to meet you too."

"RILEEEYYYY! Come on we're going to be late!" said a voice from beyond.

"Okay Zia, coming! Sorry, gotta run. I'll see you later Desi."

I nodded to him as he ran off to that girlfriend of his as I noticed the bell was about to ring.

In 5…

4…

3…

Well, I didn't really want to resort to this, but…

I teleported to class.

And got a detention.


	3. Chapter 3

I walked into the detention room and was surprised to find half of the freshman class sitting in little white desks… Which left me with nowhere to sit.

"Um…" I said under my breath as I looked around the room.

"Oh, we've got another one." said a teacher that looked like she'd rather be anywhere else but there. She looked at my nametag.

"Desi Braun. Okay. That leaves us with… Zia Stronghold and Dylan Peace… Riley, do you know where your sister is?"

Sister? Well, I saw the resemblance I guess… Anyways, YES!

"No, Ma'am. She's never late to things like this…" Riley trailed off with a look of worry on his face.

"Hmm. Well, has anyone seen Dylan?" the teacher asked in a cold voice.

A small girl spoke up. "Ms. Hayford, Dylan used to go to my old school and he never went to detention."

"Great. Well, Desi, why don't you take a seat… Oh, well, I'll get some more desks then." Ms. Hayford turned around gracefully and strutted out of the room.

The whole class started talking to each other. Loudly. I walked over to Riley, who seemed to be the only one not talking.

"Hey, you seem worried. What's up?" I asked him with concern.

He looked over to me slowly. His green eyes stopped my breathing… and thinking…

"Zia has never been late to anything. Ever. She's that type of person, you know? I'm worried that something happened to her."

"She can take care of herself, though, right? I don't know her very well but she seems like a strong-willed person."

To be honest, a few minutes ago, before Ms. Hayford notified me that Zia was related to Riley, I wouldn't have felt even a tiny bit of concern for her. Now I feel just terrible for thinking of her only as annoying and in the way of letting the hottest guy in the school be mine. Jeez, I was cruel. But now…

"You're right. She can take care of herself." Riley sighed. A really cute sigh.

I smiled. How could he be more perfect?

Ms. Hayford came back with two more desks. After she set them down, she went to the front of the room. And whistled loudly. The majority of the class looked up at her.

"Students. You all know why most of you are in here. I will not tolerate any of you inturupting gym class in that fashion."

"But Ms. Hayford," spoke up one of the students. "Those wimps were going to lose that save the citizen game, and that citizen lady looked scared to death with one second on the clock left, and…"

"Silence! I never gave you permission to talk," lectured Ms. Hayford. "but I guess we could go back to using fake citizens. Still, that was no excuse for inturupting phy-ed by all of you jumping on the poor students pretending to be villians and grabbing the citizen."

What a way to get detention.


	4. Chapter 4

When I got home, I did the usual routine.

Got a snack, plopped down on the couch, and turned on whatever looked worth watching on my tv. I settled on something that was labled as "very important news" on the bottom of the screen. Apparently there was another random giant robot attacking the urban area of the city.

Two superheroes popped in, ones that really looked like Riley and Zia, but older, by the way… Then they kicked that robot's butt and the guy flew up and threw it who-knows-where. Nice.

Suddenly the phone rang. I didn't want to, but I got off of my comfy couch and looked at the ID. It said "Balliett, Roger". I answered it, having a feeling of knowing who it was.

"Hey Desi, it's Heather. I still don't really get the science homework. Could you come over?"

I knew Heather Balliett from my middle school, and she just happened to be my science partner at Sky High. She reads minds… and gossips about everything, which is NOT a good combination.

"You still don't get the science homework? You read minds, right? How could you not know how to make freeze rays just by reading the teacher's mind?"

"Mmhmm… About that. I was off daydreaming about a love of mine, which I also want to talk to you about. Just come over!"

Ow. She screamed that last part in my ear.

"Uh, okay, I'll be there." I hung up.

A benefit of teleporting: You don't have to walk anywhere.

She almost screamed again when I popped unexpectedly into her bedroom.

"Oh, thank God… Okay, so, I heard you liked Riley, but Dylan really likes you… But he doesn't even know me, heck, I don't think he's ever even seen me. Maybe when you hang out with him tomorrow at the Paper Lantern you could bring me? Please?"

"Uh…" What do I say to that?!

"Suurre," I said, actually only half sure. "Didn't you need help with science?"

"Well, yeah, but that was, shall I say, my main priority. Anyway, just go over it in your head and I'll be fine."

I sighed. Dylan's going to hate me. I know it.


	5. Chapter 5

I found myself worrying over tomorrow's "date" rather than sleeping. Around two o'clock, I was finally drifting into a shallow sleep when I heard a loud series of screams coming from the house across the street.

I smelled smoke.

I looked out of my window. The building was on fire!

My neighbor who lived there, Mrs. Carlson, was a helpless elderly lady. I always mowed her lawn or trimmed her hedges during the summer.

I ran down the stairs quickly. My parents, along with the other neighbors, were already there. The firemen… weren't.

"Mom, Dad! You have to do something! Mrs. Carlson's burning in there!"

"Desi, there isn't really anything your dad or I can do," my mom said doubtfully. "You, however, can go in there and safely get her out. Just make sure no one sees you."

I nodded. I guess it was my time.

I ran back into our house, took a deep breath, and teleported to the room that Mrs. Carlson yelled from. I coughed a few times, and then looked around. I saw an unconscious Mrs. Carlson with a picture of an elderly man in her outstretched hand. I grabbed her, along with the picture, and teleported us safely to her backyard as the house we were in just a second ago almost completely collapsed. I heard sirens from the front of the yard. I put the picture back into Mrs. Carlson's hand and teleported back to my bed.

Job well done.


	6. Chapter 6

I was very sleepy when I got up that morning. Maybe that whole thing was just a dream.

I looked out of my window. Oh, nope, it wasn't.

When I came down for breakfast, my mom and dad smiled their biggest.

"Good morning sunshine!" my mom said, twirling one of her purple streaks of hair subconsciously. "Want some pancakes?"

I said sure as I sat down at our small kitchen table. My dad was still looking at me with that smile as I took my first bite of homemade goodness.

"What?" I asked him.

"Well," he said excidedly. "I think that I should show you our secret sanctum!"

"We have one of those?" I questioned.

"Well, yes, but we don't really use it all too much… Anyway, after breakfast we can go see it quick before you get on the bus! I suggest you eat quickly since the bus is coming in ten minutes, by the way."

He still had that smile on his face. How could I say no?

"Okay, Dad." Now I caught myself with his same grin.

I ate more quickly than I ever did before then stopped myself. Can I…

I cut the pancake into little pieces and teleported it into my stomach. Wow, that's convenient.

My dad's smile turned into an OMG face when he saw that happen, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Okay," was all he could say for a few seconds. Then he shook his head quickly, stood up, and proclaimed, "Let's go!"

I followed him into my parents' bedroom and he opened their closet. Behind some old coats was a keypad. He typed in a code and told me to hop in the closet with him. When we were both in the small space he pressed a big red button next to the keypad and the closet door closed. The whole thing was going downward, like some sort of elevator.

When we stopped and the door opened, we got out.

The place was a pig sty! Or, rather, a guinea pig sty!

"Mom spends the most time here," Dad said sheepishly.

All I could answer was an 'uh huh' as I looked around. There was a picture on the wall that caught my eye. "Who are they?" I asked.

"Oh, those are my high school buddies!" he said proudly. "There's Will Stronghold and Layla Williams… Well, she's Layla Stronghold now. You probably know their kids, um… Was it Zia and… I can't remember the other's…"

"Riley and Zia, Dad," I told him. "I know them. They're pretty… nice."

"I heard that they're great kids," Dad said. "I'm sure you go to school with Warren Peace's kid, Dylan, too."

I nodded. They looked nearly identicle, besides the hair. Even the same style.

"Then there's us, and, believe it or not, that was considered cool in my day." He smiled as I looked strangely at him.

"And there's Ethan. I haven't seen him since high school. I wonder what he's been up to…" Dad spaced out as he does a lot of the time as I looked at my watch. The bus was probably pulling up to my stop right now!

"Dad! I have to go, bye!" I said quickly as I teleported to the kitchen. Mom was already holding my lunch. I grabbed it as I thanked her then ran out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

My stomach felt worse and worse as the day went on.

The only explanation I could think of is…

Pancakes.

I should've never just put them into my stomach like that!

"Mr. Daily, I'm not feeling good." I said. "May I go to the nurse?"

"Alright." That was all he said as he made some sort of shooing motion with his hand.

I didn't even know where the nurse's was.

As I started for the drinking fountain, thinking I'd feel better after some water, I saw Dylan come out of the boys' bathroom.

"Hi," he said. "Are you okay? You look pale."

"I'm sorry Dylan, I'm really not feeling good." I just remembered our 'date' tonight.

As though he was reading my mind, he asked, "What about tonight?!"

"Actually I have to talk to you." I hope I'm not making a mistake… "Do you know Heather Balliett?"

"Um, no. Why?" He had a questioned look on his face.

"Well, I kind of said she could join us tonight, but I'm sick so…"

"Join us? But I thought that this was…" It seemed as though it was hard for him to finish his sentence. "I… thought this could be… a sort of date or something."

I looked up at him. This was a mistake. I should've never told Heather that she could tag along.

"I'm sorry, Dylan. Maybe some other time? But please, could you do me a favor and just hang out with Heather tonight? She's really nice."

"Well, sure. As long as we can meet up later… Desi, you look even worse than before; I'll walk you to the nurse's office."

I nodded as he grabbed my hand and we made our way to the nurse's office. Although this was very boyfriend-girlfriendish, I felt like he was turning into a great friend.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, sorry I haven't been updating my story. I've been gone on vacation for a week, and I hope none of you are mad or anything… Anyway, on with the story!

------

I was sent home with a firm "Don't ever do that again!" and just sat there feeling awful for the most part. At around ten o'clock my mom picked up the phone.

"Hello? …Yes, I think so… Alright, I'll get her."

She handed the phone to me.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey it's Dylan."

"Oh, hi! How was your night?" I asked.

"It was wonderful! Heather is really awesome." I could tell he was smiling.

"Aww… So I shouldn't regret setting up that blind date?"

He laughed. "No, it was fun… Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, actually. I feel a lot better. I'm sure I'll be able to go to school tomorrow." At least I hoped so.

"Hey, great! Um… you live on Elm Street, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I was beginning to think he was some sort of stalker.

"Well I heard there was a fire on that street. Do you know about it?"

"Yeah, actually I saved the lady who lived there."

"Oh, wow! So did you hear that the police think I did it?"

Huh?

"What? Why?" Even though I only knew Dylan for a few days, I knew he wasn't the type to burn a kind elderly woman's house down.

"The police… They know who I am, what I can do. I'm pyrokinetic, which means I can control and manipulate fire… There were numbers of times when 911 was needed when I was a toddler and had no control over my powers."

"Wow…" That was all I could say.

Oh, crap.

"Dylan, I really have to go." I hung up and teleported to the sink.

Then I barfed. Ew.


	9. Chapter 9

I felt wonderfully better the next day, so, naturally, I went to school.

The morning classes passed quickly, and at lunch I went and sat next to Dylan, who was alone at a table in the corner of the lunch room.

"Hey Desi," he said. "Is it alright if Heather joins us?"

"No problem at all! Actually, I've been thinking about it, and you two seem like the cutest couple." Second to me and Riley, of course.

"Thanks." Dylan said as he looked over to the door. Heather seemed to take on a whole new style. Instead of American Eagle she wore Hot Topic. Dylan was grinning. I couldn't help but think about why the police might suspect him. Sure, he looked like some type of violent kid, and normies knowing about your powers is usually a terrible thing. I hope the police have enough sense to try to find evidence before he was blamed for the crime.

"Crime, what crime?" asked Heather. Bad time to think about this…

Then came an awkward silence. But Heather obviously didn't see it as that.

"Oh, Dylan!" Heather said with a shocked expression as she sat down next to him. "I swear I'll find who's at the bottom of this."

"Thank you." Dylan mumbled.

For about a minute we had another awkward moment. No talking, just eating.

Then Riley and Zia stomped into the room.

"Well you need to trust me!" shouted Riley.

"I can't after what happened!" Zia snapped back.

"What happened? That was YOUR fault! Stop blaming me for everything!"

"I am blaming you because it WAS your fault! How in the world is this my fault?!"

"You agreed to her plan while I told you to have nothing to do with her!"

They left the lunchroom as quickly as they came. I could still hear their muffled voices from the hallway. I looked over to Heather and Dylan, but they were gone.


	10. Chapter 10

Dylan was in my class for last hour, hero history, and he seemed really down.

"Hey Dyl, what's wrong?" I asked him as if we've been friends our whole lives.

"I just found out that the police want my to go in for questioning after school."

Wow. Dylan Downer.

"They shouldn't be able to question you without good reason though, right?"

"Well, of course they shouldn't, but they can. They're using my power as an excuse to blame me for something that someone else did!"

"Do they know that someone started the fire and not something?"

"The police are almost possitive that someone had to have started the fire. I…"

He was cut off as the teacher walked into the room. Ms. Kalt had a chilling way of making the class quiet down… literally. She could freeze people. Her prescence always brought the room temperature down about ten or twenty degrees.

"Class, please take your seats. Today I'm going to announce our class project," she said without emotion in her voice. "I will put you into groups of three, and you must interview a superhero, finding out how they ended up where they are today. I don't care if it's your parents or grandparents or whatever. After the interview, each group will write a three page essay on their story. Now I will draw your names from this hat to establish your groups."

To be honest, I was sometimes embarrassed by my parents. They didn't really go out and fight villians or anything. They were just normal people who happen to be able to do odd things, like glow or turn into a rodent. I hoped I'd get paired up with someone that had a cool parent.

Suddenly the teacher called my name. "Desi, you'll be with…" She pulled two more names. "Dylan and Travis."

Well, at least I was with Dylan. But I barely know Travis. Actually, I don't think I've ever even spoke to the guy. He even sat next to me!

"Hey," he whispered over to me. "We can interview my dad. Is today after school alright for you?"

"No," I whispered back. "I know Dylan has something going on today after school. How about this weekend?"

"Fine with me. There's usually less danger when the day is young, so my dad'll probably be around the house then. Is Saturday at eight okay with you?"

"Good for me, but you'll have to ask Dylan too."

"Kay." He went back to doodling racecars.

The project was probably the least important thing in my life right now, but for right now I wanted to step away from all of my crazy life and focus on school. As if that'll happen.


	11. Chapter 11

Ah, freedom.

I was home alone. My parents were at some sort of party. I was eating fortune cookies, popcorn, and chocolate milk for supper. It was awesome.

I popped a whole fortune cookie into my mouth, and spit out the fortune… I forgot about it. The fortune was: "An unexpected guest will arrive at your door." Hmmm… Mysterious.

Suddenly I heard a "ding-dong". Well, here was the guest, and that was unexpected… and they were at my door.

I looked out the window. It was Dylan, so I opened the door.

"Uh… hi," he said.

"Hi." I said back at him.

"Can I come in?" Dylan said, pointing to the living room.

"No," I said. After a few seconds, I let him in.

"I think we should go visit Mrs. Curlson." Dylan said very matter-of-factly.

"You mean Mrs. Carlson?" I asked him with a smirk.

"Sure. There's something suspicious about her."

"Suspicious? Dylan… She's an old lady. None of them are suspicious. Listen to yourself."

"Well, there's something weird about her. According to my dad, she was involved with some sort of allience having to do with… the pacifier."

"Wow… I do have to admit, that is weird, but why do we have to worry about it? Is someone after her babysitting techniques?"

"No, Desi, the pacifier is a device that shoots out lasers that turn people into babies. Mrs. Carlson made the pacifier nearly 40 years ago to give villians a second chance. Unfortunately, a villian stole it and used it against the good, claiming the pacifier as her own work. Your mom and dad, along with my dad and their high school buddies, destroyed the pacifier. My theory is that someone burned her house because of her invention… I just don't know exactly why…"

He didn't go on after that. I didn't know what to do. Comfort him, ask him more questions, whatever, but all we ended up doing was sitting on my couch, thinking for a minute or two until I decided I should say something.

"We could go visit her tomorrow after school."


	12. Chapter 12

The next day during hero history, the groups for the project got together to discuss "who's doing what", as Ms. Kalt put it. Dylan, Travis, and I were in a corner of the room, not knowing what to do because we were done discussing "who's doing what."

"So Travis," said Dylan. "How's Maria?"

"She's good. I heard you're going out with Heather. How'd that happen?"

"Long story. Actually, Desi kind-of introduced us. Did you know that Travis is dating Heather's sister?"

"Oh, that's cool." That was all I could really say. I never actually met Maria. All I know about her is that she's a grade below Heather and she can hypnotize people. I wasn't really sure if I ever did want to meet her.

Suddenly the bell rang.

"So we'll meet Saturday at 8 then?" asked Travis.

Dylan and I agreed, then we left the classroom. Riley was coming out of a nearby room with a friend of his.

"So you like Riley, eh?" said Dylan.

"Um… Yes… I mean no! I mean… how'd you figure that out?"

"C'mon. I can tell by the way you're staring at him. Why don't you talk to him?"

I couldn't answer as Dylan gave me a gentle push towards Riley. I was trying to come up with something to say when he interrupted my thoughts with his beautiful voice.

"Hey, Desi. How's it going?" he asked with a smile. I was tempted to run because I didn't know what to say.

"Good," I said quickly. Well, at least I said something.

"Hey," Riley said. "I noticed you ride the bus every day. Why don't you just teleport home?"

The truth was, I just rode the bus because I liked seeing him on it every day before and after school, but I made up something.

"I think I should only use my powers when I have to." Good cover, I guess.

Riley smiled… a really cute smile.

"Hey, I think the same thing. Most people think I ride the bus because I don't want to be seperated from my sister, because she didn't get the flying gene, but the truth is that I don't really feel like showing off… Speaking of the bus, I better get going or I'll miss it. Nice talking to you, Desi."

Hehe… He said it's nice talking to me. Dylan snapped me out of the state I was in, which was staring down the hall in the direction Riley left with a shocked expression on my face. Then we started down the hall towards our lockers, ready to meet Mrs. Carlson.


	13. Chapter 13

At four o'clock, Dylan and I met on the corner of Elm Street.

"So what's the plan?" I asked him.

"Mrs. Carlson is staying at her sister's… since her house isn't exactly liveable right now, and I heard she lives in that creepy mansion in the old part of town."

"Great," I said sarcastically as we started shuffling along the sidewalk. After about five minutes of walking, it started to rain. Hard.

"Hey Dylan, have you ever teleported before?" I asked him with a grin.

"As if," he answered. It seemed as though he was going to say something else, but before he could, I grabbed his hand and we teleported to the estate that looked like ghosts were creeping inside of it.

"This must be the place," I said in awe. Dylan just stood there, looking stunned.

"You just… Nevermind," he said as he started walking up the hill that led to the entrence. I followed him. An old-fashioned knocker was connected to the door. Dylan knocked with it twice. As the door opened, lightning stricked and I swore I heared an organ playing in E minor in the distance.

"Who's here?" asked the elderly lady that opened the door. I smelled the odor of old people from inside.

"Hi. I'm Dylan Peace and this is Desi Braun. We're here to see Mrs. Carlson. May we come in?"

"Peace did you say? Is Warren a relative of yours?" She put on the reading glasses that she wore around her neck.

"Yes ma'am. He's my father."

I never noticed how polite Dylan was, and that struck me as funny. He wore the typical rebellious teenage outfits and seemed like some sort of player around school, but here it seemed as though he just walked out of church.

"Well then, come in you two. My sister's upstairs. She has a broken arm from that tragic night her house was destroyed, and she's been in bed since." Mrs. Carlson's sister led us upstairs. There were pictures of important looking people on the walls and knight's armor at the end of the hall. There were even spiderwebs. Mrs. Carlson's sister had to be doing her décor on purpose; there's no way that her house would look this much like it's haunted if she didn't try.

"Here's the room." She opened a door at the end of the hall and we walked in. Now it not only smelled like old people, but it also smelled like medicine. Ew.

Mrs. Carlson was on the fancy queen-sized bed in the middle of the room. She was reading a book that looked like it was made in the stone age.

"Linda, you have a visitor," said Mrs. Carlson's sister. Mrs. Carlson, a.k.a "Linda", looked up from her book, obviously surprised at her guests.

"Desi Braun! I'm so happy you came," exclaimed Mrs. Carlson. "I wanted to thank you for getting me out of that house safely… And saving Robert, too."

"Robert?" I thought I only saved one person that night.

Mrs. Carlson grabbed a framed picture off of the shelf.

"Yes, Robert, my husband…" She shifted her gaze to Dylan, who was now standing in the corner.

"You're that boy that the police think did this, aren't you?" asked Mrs. Carlson as she pointed at him with her good arm.

"Yes ma'am, but I swear to God that I had nothing to do with that fire." Dylan was looking straight at her, proving that he was dead serious. "I would never do something so wreckless."

"Don't worry, I believe you. I know that your father wouldn't raise you to do something like that. Warren is such a nice man…" Mrs. Carlson stopped talking for about ten or twenty seconds.

"But," she looked up at us suddenly. "I know who started the fire. I'd rather not tell you, because I don't believe it myself. I honestly didn't think they did such a thing…" She trailed off again. Dylan looked like he was about to grab her and force the information out of her, but I know he knew better.

"Please," Dylan said in a pissed-off/prying-but-covered-up-with-politeness voice. "We need to report these people to the authorities. Not only to clear my name, but for justice!"

Mrs Carlson sighed. "You're so very right…" For the third time, she trailed off. Now Dylan looked like her was about to rip her head off.

But before he could, the elderly lady said,

"It was Riley and Zia Stronghold."


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning I woke up to a fast-moving Madonna song on my alarm clock/radio at seven in the morning. Usually a song like that would get me up and going right away. Why did I agree to Travis' 8-AM-on-a-Saturday interview? And why did the hottest guy in school turn out to be a supervillian? I sighed as I got ready and put on a cute green blouse with plaid bermuda shorts. Then I teleported to the address Travis gave me a few days ago. Dylan was already there with Travis.

"Oh, Desi, glad you're here!" Travis said. "My dad ran out for a few minutes… Apparently there's another giant robot attacking the city."

"Oh, great!" I exclaimed. "That's the 4th one this week!"

"And counting," pointed out Dylan.

Suddenly a man with a somewhat impressive super-suit opened the front door. He smiled at us while he said, "Ready for the best interview of your life?"

We all sat down as I pulled out my recording tape and Dylan grabbed his notebook and pen.

Dylan started talking first. "Mr. Daniels…"

"Please, call me Ethan." Ethan said. I almost expected that from him.

"Right, Ethan," Dylan went on. "May you please begin at the beginning of your life and move on from there?"

"Yes, of course. I was eleven years old when I discovered my powers… Well, sort of. I was watching my first R rated movie and was scared to death… Never mind that… Anyway, I turned into a puddle of orange goo basically. After that I went on living with that… disgrace of a power. My parents weren't supers, so they didn't know what to do with me. They sent me to your school, Sky High. In my freshmen year I was in the 'side-kick' program, but at the end of the year everything changed. I saved the school from the Pacifier, you see, and I was the school hero from then on!"

"Wait," I cut in. I thought that you along with your friends defeated Royal Pain along with her Pacifier together."

"Yes, well…" he seemed embarrassed and he squirmed a little in his chair. "They helped a little, I guess. Anyway, sophomore year I still had those disgraceful powers, but junior year it all changed."

"Here we go," said Travis with an eye-roll.

"Ah, yes, Travis knows this story as well as I do!" exclaimed Ethan. "So where was I? Oh yes, anyway, I met Clair, I mean, Travis' mother, and when she was captured by the evil villian, Freezer, I knew I had to do something to save her! I followed Freezer to his layer and subconsiously shapeshifted into a huge… uh, thing and saved her! I won her heart, and I found my power! I can shapeshift into anything I want!"

Yeah, but I be he couldn't shapeshift into anyone described as "humble" or "meek". He seemed more than a little self-conceited.

The interview was pretty much done after that. I guess I was somewhat right about school taking the stress out of mind. Unfortunately, that was momentary. As soon as I teleported back home, the burden of my worries overcame me again. I flopped onto my bed and screamed into my pillow.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day, I got a text from Heather asking me to join her and Dylan for a study group. We had a test in foreign languages on Monday. (A superhero needs to know his languages. Who knows if Italian or Swahili would come in handy some day?)

I teleported into Heather's living room, expecting to see Heather and Dylan, of course, but found three pairs of unexpected eyes on me instead.

"Desi, right?" asked Maria. I nodded. "Heather and Dylan are in the den," she said. She turned her attention back to the other two.

"Sorry," was all I could say. Why were Riley and Zia with Maria? I teleported to the den.

"Hey Heather," I asked. "Why are Riley and Zia in your house? You should know how dangerous they are."

Heather looked up from her notes. "Hmm? Oh, you're here, Desi. Do you know the German word for… foot?"

She was obviously trying to get away from the "Riley and Zia" subject.

"Wait," said Dylan. "Riley? And Zia? Here?"

"That's what I said," At least Dylan wasn't trying to hide anything from anyone.

"Yeah, Maria's good friends with them," Heather quickly said. "Anyway, do you guys want anything to drink? Some soda? Water?"

"No!" yelled Dylan. "Stop changing the subject! I'm going to ask you simply, and give me a simple answer back. Why are Riley and Zia here?"

Heather's voice was barely a whisper now. "Maria… She… She was the one that made Riley and Zia start the fire."

"Wait," I whispered back. "Did she hypnotize them?"

Heather gulped. "Yes. I didn't want to tell anyone… I couldn't believe that my sister would do anything like this. I wanted to think that I didn't hear her mind correctly, but there's no mistaking it." She started to cry.

Sure, I was sad for Heather, but… At least my crush isn't a supervillian. Dylan put his arm around Heather. I got her a tissue. I guess I won't be able to study for German after all.


	16. Chapter 16

If you're going to watch a sunset, you might as well do it on a beach with the love of your life.

"Desi, I've been meaning to tell you this for awhile," Riley said.

"You don't have to. I know what you feel, and I feel the same way," I said, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt.

He leaned over to kiss me, but suddenly an unexpected tune rang in my ears.

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world…"

What the heck?!

I opened my eyes and found myself in bed. My alarm clock/radio was blasting that despised pop song, attempting to wake me up. It worked. I threw on jeans and a t-shirt, put my hair in a messy ponytail, and ran to the kitchen. Late again?! My mom threw me an over-ripe banana as I grabbed my lunch and ran to the bus which was already at my stop.

Dylan saved a seat for me. Heather was in the seat behind him, talking to a friend I didn't recognize.

"So, what's the update on the whole pacifier, Maria, fire mystery?" I asked Dylan as I sat down.

"Well, Maria escaped from the jail last night, then the police dropped the whole crime… Riley and Zia are fine, though. I don't know how exactly they got involved with Maria, but I'm sure it's a heck of a story. They don't seem to be coming to school today. They always ride the bus." Dylan shuffled his backpack in his lap.

"Where do you think Maria went?" I asked. It's obvious that she couldn't really have time to hypnotize anyone if the whole school fought her. If we only knew where she was…

"Well, how far can you travel in fifteen hours?" Dylan asked. "I mean, she could be anywhere!" he yelled. The whole bus was looking at him now. An awkward 5-second silence passed… Then everyone started to talk again.

"I could help," said the stranger sitting by Heather. She had a British accent. Cool.

"How?" I asked. If there was something that could be done to find that Maria, we should do it ASAP.

"I can locate any living thing, no matter where they are." She said… in a British accent. I never really knew why they sounded so cool… They just do.

"Lillian, you're a lifesaver!" Heather said with a big smile on her face.

"I know." Lillian smiled back. "She's at the Wal Mart Super Center in downtown Las Vegas."

Why?

"Viva Las Vegas," Dylan said with a somewhat confused expression on his face.


	17. Chapter 17

"Desi, can you take us there?" asked Dylan.

"Sure, no problem," I said as I grabbed Dylan, Heather, and Lillian and willed myself to teleport.

"Uh, Desi," Heather said. "C'mon, let's go."

We were still on the smelly school bus.

"I… I can't," was all I could say. What happened? Why can't I teleport?

"What do you mean you can't?" Dylan asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"I don't know," I said. I tried teleporting to my room. It worked. I teleported back to the bus. "Maybe I just can't teleport to that specific place." I tried teleporting back to the Wal Mart. Nothing. "Nope. Can't go to Las Vegas at this moment. Usually when I want to go somewhere, I just do. This doesn't make sense."

"Maybe you can't go there because it doesn't exist?" Dylan sort-of asked. I shrugged. No clue.

Suddenly the bus came to a startling halt. We were at school.

"We could go into the computer lab and check," Heather suggested.

Dylan and I followed.

"Aren't you coming, Lillian?" asked Heather.

"No, I have to go meet up with someone. Catch you guys later," she said, walking to a girl I recognized as a sophomore.

We got to the computer lab and Dylan looked up 'Las Vegas Wal Mart Supercenter' in the search engine. What came up was just what we were looking for.

"Well, there it is," Dylan said. I tried to teleport there again.

It actually worked. I was in the Hot Wheels isle, and there were a few startled little boys. I ran around, which seemed random to passer-byes, but I had to make sure Maria wasn't there. Nothing seemed out of order. I teleported back.

"Well, it worked that time," I said, confused.

"While you were gone Dyl and I noticed that this store looks like it's in more of a suburban area. Weren't you thinking 'downtown' before?" asked Heather.

"Well, yeah," I said plainly. "Nothing really seemed wrong at that store. I looked around and the shoppers were more scared of me than anything else."

"What'd you do?" asked Dylan, obviously wondering why people were freaked out by me.

"Well, first I teleported into the Hot Wheels isle, and the only people that saw me were a few toddlers. Then I ran around, probably looking like a freak. That's it."

"Oh," was all Dylan could say.

"Maybe we should go find Lillian again. Maybe Maria moved," Heather suggested.

"We'll have to do it during lunch or something. The bell's about to ring," I said, noticing the time. We ran out of the lab to get to our next class.


	18. Chapter 18

I'm determined to finish this story! I haven't updated because I completely forgot about it, reread it today, and really wanted to finish! So read on!

"Lillian, could you please tell me where Maria is?" I said as I spotted her in the hallway. Heather, Dylan and I have been looking for her everywhere to tell us Maria's location.

"Yes. She's in the Las Vegas Wal Mart," she said plainly.

"No, I checked. She's not there, Lillian, where is she?"

"Wal Mart. In Las Vegas."

"Lillian, seriously, this isn't funny."

"She's in Las Vegas!"

Heather cut in. "I think she's hypnotized. It's the only thing that's on her mind. 'Maria's in Wal Mart. In Las Vegas' over and over on replay. Maria's not stupid. She covers her tracks."

"How will we find her then?" asked Dylan with a large frown.

"Well," started Heather. "There may be one way. But I'm not sure… My mind-reading is stronger when I'm reading my family. Maybe I could reach Maria's mind if I really tried, but-."

"You can use the school's power-booster helmet," cut in a monotonous voice from behind. Ms. Kalt was suddenly behind us, and a shiver went down my spine.

"The helmet isn't really the prettiest accessory, but it's been proven to work," she went on.

We were led to a small closet in a science room. There was a big Storm-Trooper looking helmet behind lasers and in a glass case. Ms. Kalt gave her thumb a scan on a square on the wall and all the barriers disappeared. She picked up the helmet and handed it to Heather. Heather drew a deep breath and put it on. After about 5 minutes of us staring at her silently and awkwardly, plus the bell ringing about 3 minutes in, she took of the helmet and gasped.

"What happened?" asked Ms. Kalt with great concern.

"Well…" started Heather. "Maria is raising a super-army in a shelter in Antarctica, and she's going to attack the US in about 3 hours."


	19. Chapter 19

I felt more power than I ever did before.

I was pacing near the edge of the school. Every student and teacher in front of me. Principal Powers was explaining why we were all here:

"…and that's why we need to go to the middle of Antarctica. Any questions?"

Everyone's hands shot up.

"How are we all gonna get there?" asked one student.

"We have the wonderful teleporting Desi Braun!" gloated Powers. I waved dumbly.

"How do we know that none of us are working for Maria?" asked a young teacher.

"I'm on it!" said Heather. She was silently interrogating each student as she spoke.

I was wondering if I'd need the power-helmet thing, teleporting all 700 students and faculty. I've never tried testing the limits of my power. Usually I found it easier to be touching the things I teleported, but it's not really a requirement, now that I think about it. And if I could teleport everyone at Sky High, maybe I could put Maria and her stupid army on Mars or something.

"I'd prefer you not kill my sister," pointed out Heather. "A mental hospital would be easier for me to deal with."

"Alright Heather," I said with a little smile.

Someone squeezed my shoulder.

"We're ready," Dylan said softly. He seemed like the bravest one here. The rest of us looked pretty shaky. And to think we'd be doing this the rest of our lives, fighting evil… Thinking of which…

"But we should have more back-up. Are all the local superheroes coming?"

"We're already here!" yelled a confident voice behind me. It was Travis' dad! Behind him were the rest of the famous, comic-book supers I've grown up with… Which excluded my normalish parents, but it was still nice to see.

"Alright!" I said, not bothering to put on the helmet. "Let's go!"

Nothing happened.

I stood there awkwardly for about a minute. The sound of the wind through my ear, someone coughing a few yards in front of me. I expected something, anything to happen, but nothing did.

"Don't worry Desi," said yet another voice behind me. This time it was Mrs. Carlson. "I have a strong feeling that an old friend of mine that developed a power-hindrance force field has sold his product for the bad of mankind.

"Oh… That's a bummer." I started. "So what do we do now?"

Mrs. Carlson didn't appear worried. "The power-booster helmet will counteract the force field. Take only me along at first, so I can dismantle the field. Knowing how the product works, chances are Maria won't know that the force field's off. She'll assume everything's safe and sound. Then we'll attack. How many were in her army, Heather?"

"About 2000, give or take."

"That probably won't be too much of a problem." Mrs. Carlson said. I think she's going out of her mind. "Now let's go, Desi!"


	20. Chapter 20

It felt like a secret mission to save the world!

Well, it sorta was. Which is really cool, right?

Yeah, I'm a dork.

I put on the helmet (that made me look even dorkier), and teleported Mrs. Carlson and me to Maria's evil-army residence. And there wasn't a doorbell, surprisingly.

For some reason it took a lot of concentration and effort to get us there. I was dizzy, tired, and out of breath when we got there. I mentioned it to Mrs. Carlson.

"That's an effect of the force field. It usually just doesn't let people with powers get in by using their abilities. Now we need to find the control switch."

It was a huge place. But as we were walking down a huge, depressing, evil-looking hallway, I spotted Travis up ahead!

"Hey Travis!"

"Hey Desi! I didn't know you were working for Maria."

"Yup, that's me, a regular Maria-minion!"

"Cool. So what's up? Ready to kill some innocent people?"

"Yeah!" Well actually no, that's terrible. "But I need to find the control room. Something's up with the power-hindrance force field."

"Oh, okay. It's room 9920847. So take a left, a right, another right, then go straight until there's a dead end, turn left, go down 48 floors, take a left, another left, and it's the green and yellow striped door on your right."

"…Thanks."

"No problem, see you when we're taking babies from their mothers. Bwahahahaha." Travis waved and left.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"Maria, that's what's wrong with him," explained Mrs. Carlson.

She amazingly remembered all of Travis' instructions, right down to the room number. When we got there, she pushed three red buttons.

"All taken care of. And I let Maria's goat farm loose."

"She has a goat farm here? Why?"

"Goat milk strengthens some powers."

"Oh."

We teleported back to the school, gave thumbs-ups, and everyone cheered.

"Let's go!" I said, still wearing the power-booster helmet.

I actually succeeded this time; everyone from school was at Maria's lair. And we were gonna kick some major villain butt.


End file.
